1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method, system and materials for use in hydrogen gettering in conjunction with microelectronic and microwave components that are generally hermetically sealed in an enclosure typically referred to as a “package”.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The effect of molecular and atomic hydrogen is of particular concern for hermetically sealed microelectronic devices, generally those containing group III–V semiconductor materials and specifically gallium arsenide microwave integrated circuits. It is known that these devices degrade over time and temperature in the presence of even small amounts of molecular and atomic hydrogen. The amount of hydrogen which is tolerable depends upon the end use of the device and the required life expectancy thereof. In general, the presence of hydrogen in amounts of about 10 parts per million or less are tolerable but not easily obtainable. The mechanism under which this degradation occurs has been hypothesized by several sources, however there is no agreement at present as to the mechanism causing such degradation.
It is known that prior proposals to alleviate this problem have been made using organic hydrogen getter materials or inorganic getter materials in conjunction with an organic binder. The purpose of the getter is to capture as much as possible of the free gaseous hydrogen within the package interior, consequently decreasing or eliminating the rate of degradation of the hydrogen degradable material within the package, specifically gallium arsenide microwave integrated circuits and/or other hydrogen sensitive devices. The organic materials are generally unsatisfactory because they are: 1) limited in temperature range and/or 2) are reversible such that previously captured hydrogen may be released at elevated temperatures or with time and/or 3) because the getter rate decreases with time at temperature, ultimately limiting the temperature and/or length of time that the getter will function. It follows that other empirical approaches are required to minimize the above described problem.